FZ1N Headlight install

So I picked up an '08 FZ6 that was laid down on the right side by the PO. Decided to rebuild it naked using the FZ1N headlight (cheap-ish way to get this headlight posted there: http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-streetfighter/13504-fz1n-headlight-parts-list.html)

This is the headlight:
View attachment 14589

All in all, fitting it on the FZ6 is a pretty simple job.. Here goes:

Part 1: Electrical
The headlight comes with a wiring harness attached to it. As the connector does not fit the native FZ6 frame connector, I decided to take it off and reuse the FZ6 wiring harness. 1st picture shows the original harness, 2nd shows what's left of it now.
View attachment 14587 View attachment 14588

On the FZ6 wiring harness, I took off the black/green wire from the left headlight and plugged it in the top slot on the right headlight plug. And that's all there is to it. You now have a wiring harness that is ready to be used on the new headlight.
I haven't wired up the running lights to the FZ6 wiring harness yet as I'm waiting on some new turn signals, but this will just be a matter of splicing up the new turn signals wires and attaching the running lights wires to it. I also plan on untapping the FZ6 wire harness completely and reroute the cables to make the whole thing more tidy. There is a lot of extra wire now that the fairing is gone, and nowhere to hide it


Part 2: Fitting
The headlight comes with an assembly to fit it to the FZ1 front end. I had to dremel a few bits and pieces to make it fit, as shown below:
View attachment 14590

In order to bolt it to the lower triple I made a simple aluminum bracket. I'm not gonna go into details as tom5796 already gave a great write up on this part; lookup his posts here and on SBN for reference.
I am now waiting for some fork clamps I ordered to attach the top part of the headlight assembly, and that should be it.

So all in all it's a really simple job that can be done in a few hours once you have all the parts needed. And I think it looks pretty damn good:
View attachment 14591


Anybody interested in doing this conversion should lookup the detailed write up made by tom5796 on his install. I just wanted to report here the few things I didn't see in Tom's thread.

More pics to come once it's finished up and on the road (and inspected by NY DMV ... I hope they won't sit on my paperwork through spring...)


[Edit] Some more info added in post #15

looks good. great job

Awesome job Victor! Now I am wondering if I should have stayed with the FZ1N headlight.

She's a beaut! Nice work :rockon:

Very nice!

gharris66 said:

Awesome job Victor! Now I am wondering if I should have stayed with the FZ1N headlight.

Click to expand...

I don't think so.. I think the FZ1N headlight works great with the 07+ speedos, but I can't really picture the 04-06 speedos on it.. I just don't see how it would fit and look good.
Plus I really like what you're doing with the vrod headlight and SV650 mini fairing..

victorb said:

I don't think so.. I think the FZ1N headlight works great with the 07+ speedos, but I can't really picture the 04-06 speedos on it.. I just don't see how it would fit and look good.
Plus I really like what you're doing with the vrod headlight and SV650 mini fairing..

Click to expand...

Thanks. I really like the way the speedo fits behind the mini fairing. I'm waiting on some brackets and should have all installed this weekend. Next is to figure out the paint.

http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-streetfighter/13724-fz6n-conversion-2.html#post180599

Do you have a link of the fork clamps you ordered?

victorb said:

So I picked up an '08 FZ6 that was laid down on the right side by the PO. Decided to rebuild it naked using the FZ1N headlight (cheap-ish way to get this headlight posted there: http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-streetfighter/13504-fz1n-headlight-parts-list.html)

This is the headlight:
View attachment 14589

All in all, fitting it on the FZ6 is a pretty simple job.. Here goes:

Part 1: Electrical
The headlight comes with a wiring harness attached to it. As the connector does not fit the native FZ6 frame connector, I decided to take it off and reuse the FZ6 wiring harness. 1st picture shows the original harness, 2nd shows what's left of it now.
View attachment 14587 View attachment 14588

On the FZ6 wiring harness, I took off the black/green wire from the left headlight and plugged it in the top slot on the right headlight plug. And that's all there is to it. You now have a wiring harness that is ready to be used on the new headlight.
I haven't wired up the running lights to the FZ6 wiring harness yet as I'm waiting on some new turn signals, but this will just be a matter of splicing up the new turn signals wires and attaching the running lights wires to it. I also plan on untapping the FZ6 wire harness completely and reroute the cables to make the whole thing more tidy. There is a lot of extra wire now that the fairing is gone, and nowhere to hide it


Part 2: Fitting
The headlight comes with an assembly to fit it to the FZ1 front end. I had to dremel a few bits and pieces to make it fit, as shown below:
View attachment 14590

In order to bolt it to the lower triple I made a simple aluminum bracket. I'm not gonna go into details as tom5796 already gave a great write up on this part; lookup his posts here and on SBN for reference.
I am now waiting for some fork clamps I ordered to attach the top part of the headlight assembly, and that should be it.

So all in all it's a really simple job that can be done in a few hours once you have all the parts needed. And I think it looks pretty damn good:
View attachment 14591


Anybody interested in doing this conversion should lookup the detailed write up made by tom5796 on his install. I just wanted to report here the few things I didn't see in Tom's thread.

More pics to come once it's finished up and on the road (and inspected by NY DMV ... I hope they won't sit on my paperwork through spring...)

Click to expand...

Looks good!:thumbup:

gharris66 said:

Awesome job Victor! Now I am wondering if I should have stayed with the FZ1N headlight.

Click to expand...

I think you have a good setup.I am looking forward to seeing the final product.

maverick1970 said:

Do you have a link of the fork clamps you ordered?

Click to expand...

flyncycle:
http://www.flyncycle.com/Streetfighter_Motorcycle_Headlight_Bracket_p/hlbazf.htm

EDIT: These clamps above do not fit with the headlight mini fairing. These ones do:
http://www.flyncycle.com/Motorcycle_Headlight_Bracket_p/hlb004.htm

I put the FZ1N headlight on my '07 this summer following tom's instructions (great work by the way tom) and everything was perfect, except that at night the light seems to be directed too far down. I don't ride at night a whole lot, so I wasn't too worried about it (especially after all the tooling to get the thing on there), but it would be nice to be able to see at night, so I'm currently trying to figure out a way to raise the light. Just be aware that this can be an issue.

Thanks for the heads up.
Did you try changing the inclination of the headlight by stuffing a few more rubber dampers where the black fz1 stay attaches to the frame? I guess that could raise up the beam.

Also I see from your sig that you properly rigged up the H4, using bd43's headlight mod. I went the lazy way Did you try both and notice a difference? I figured the draw with both H4 filaments lit up on high beam would be the exact same as with the original left low beam / right high beam config.

Are you guys connecting the H4 filaments to the low beam via BD43's dual headlight mod?

ROACH1111 said:

I put the FZ1N headlight on my '07 this summer following tom's instructions (great work by the way tom) and everything was perfect, except that at night the light seems to be directed too far down. I don't ride at night a whole lot, so I wasn't too worried about it (especially after all the tooling to get the thing on there), but it would be nice to be able to see at night, so I'm currently trying to figure out a way to raise the light. Just be aware that this can be an issue.

Click to expand...

I fixed that by by drilling a hole through .5" rubber stoppers and putting them between the lower part of the bracket that youi had to fab and the frame. Works perfectly. In fact my night vision at low beam is better with the FZ1N light than the FZ6 stock fairing light. :thumbup:

To illustrate Tom's point above, I finished fitting the headlight this Sat. and thought I'd take a few more pictures.
Here is a top view picture of the fabricated bracket ready to be bolted to the FZ1 headlight assembly and the FZ6 frame:
View attachment 15041
I reused 3 Yamaha rubber dampers as I didn't have any other rubber available; cut one in half, and used one and a half on each bolt that goes to the frame.

With this setup, you end up with a headlight stay that looks like this from the side:
View attachment 15042
The green line shows how the stay is now pretty much parallel to the forks, thanks to the rubber spacers pushing it away from the frame.
The red line shows what the inclination would be without the spacers. There is not enough clearance for the headlight and it rubs against the frame at full lock left (or right i don't remember).
For Roach1111: if you stuff some more rubber spacers, you will raise the inclination, and in turn raise the beam; that might help with your night vision issue. Be careful not to go overboard and end up blinding oncoming traffic though...


Now for some picture whoring.. the bike is waiting for a salvage examination by NY DMV.. so I can't do anything with it but take pictures, so bear with me
View attachment 15044View attachment 15043View attachment 15045

Salvage inspection passed!







Not too bad for a totaled bike

victorb said:

Salvage inspection passed!

Not too bad for a totaled bike

Click to expand...

Hey victorb; What did you use to attach the upper portion of the headlight stay. I just did the conversion utilizing the same fork clamp Tom had used and I am not a huge fan of the clamp quality. Thank you for any info!

By the way...the bike looks great!

skooter65 said:

What did you use to attach the upper portion of the headlight stay. I just did the conversion utilizing the same fork clamp Tom had used and I am not a huge fan of the clamp quality.

Click to expand...

cough*cable ties*cough
I bought online some sturdy fork clamps but they're too big and do not clear the headlight covers, so until I find some other ones I went the ghetto way.. and the cable ties are doing the job pretty well I have to say

Haha... Thats great. Is it bad that i like the looks better with the cable tie?

victorb said:

cough*cable ties*cough
I bought online some sturdy fork clamps but they're too big and do not clear the headlight covers, so until I find some other ones I went the ghetto way.. and the cable ties are doing the job pretty well I have to say

Click to expand...

That's the cable tie magic

The only proper fork clamps I've seen online that I think would work are the ones you have, and I'm not a fan of their look either. Also, after doing 300 miles with my ghetto cable ties, I know that the load up there is really minimal. The bolts that fix the stay to the frame really support the whole headlight assembly without a problem.

I'll try to see if I can get some ring shaped clamps at a regular hardware store and make a custom plate to attach the stay. I think a simple round 1/2" wide black plastic clamp would look alright. I have no idea if it exists though.

I'll keep you posted if I find anything.